I had the trucks off to add some lead strips under the bolster and added a little more detail while I was at it. They are only vague representations of the end fixings on the side control springs and the slider plates and have been added purely to fill in gaps. Still they add a bit more weight onto the wheels as well.
To finish off the external details lubrication pipes have been added to the stuffing gland and valve slidebars. The former from copper wire and the latter from brass. I believe the slidebars were oiled from one of the pots on the tank fronts, so the pipe could not be routed forwards and an anchored out of sight somewhere on the cylinders. Copper sould have been too fragile so brass was used and is just a "U" shaped piece soldered into holes drilled in the slide bars. Once the body is on the "loose" ends are hidden behind the hanging plate.
I noticed that the spacer for the front chassis fixing screw was slightly bent due to the gap between it and the underside of the running plate, so after straightening it I added a suitable washer to bridge the gap and stop if happening again when the screw if tightened. The slidebar oil pipes can also be seen in this view.
The stuffing gland pipe was superglued into a hole drilled in the casting. When the glue had cured, the pipe was routed under the valve chest cover and soldered behind it out of sight. Shortening the valve crosshead to get rid of the overhang has made a big improvement.
The couplings are by Dapol and although generic rather than prototypical, they don't need fettling or assembling and are easy and quick to fit. I bought a pack of six pair for about 20 quid from Hattons so they are also economical.
Here's the whistle I made the other day but forgot to fit. Both this and the safety vales are just held with a drop of super glue so can be removed with a quick twist with a pair of pliers before painting. I like the Malcolm Mitchell mudhole covers and although others have soldered them on, I prefer to use the suggested method of filling them with a blob of epoxy. This gives time to adjust the position before it sets and also serves to strengthen the dome and prevent it being crushed by clumsy gits (me)! It's very easy to remove the excess resin when it's part cured as well.
In case anyone spots it up, I have purposely left off the bracket from the drain pipes to the cylinder, as front wheel is perilously close to the pipes on the curves and adding the bracket would take up what clearance there is. I've also omitted the buffer beam brackets as they would be mostly hidden by the footstep. I must trim the buffer head bolt though.
Although I've still to file the thread, I snipped off the excess bolt on the rear buffers. A self contained buffer would have been better but with the 12BA nut it won't look too bad after painting.
Here's a view of the injectors showing how I anchored the pipes to the underside of the cab floor. The injectors are very simplistic but will pass muster tucked away behind the steps.
The pipes under the tanks were soldered behind the hanging plate with the other ends anchored to simple bracket under the running plate. The slot to give clearance for the top of the expansion link can also be seen.
That's all the external details done, with only the backhead etc., motor and pick ups to complete. It's been a very enjoyable and easy build despite having no instructions. The etchings are all very accurate and although there are no easy build features, the parts all fit very well. The frame spacers are very simple affairs with no pretense at being prototypical and Mike Edge admits that he does not add details to his designs that can only be seen by picking up the model, but I have no problem with that. I'm quite happy if a kit has all the bells and whistles between the frames, but if it doesn't that's also fine. I like the half etch slots inside the frames for locating the spacers as you don't have any unsightly slots on the outside to deal with. It's a great shame its not available as a kit and my thanks to Mike for getting in touch and offering me the etchings.
My workbench is at my brother's house and before I left yesterday we had a "you show me yours and I'll show you mine" session. He's building this nice little Sentinel from NMRS Models. It's not the best of kits but it builds up nicely and is an interesting and unusual prototype.
Is that a barbecue on the roof?
The handrail pillars are not 100% correct but the closest he could find.
Cheers,
Peter
